The Council of Ministers will consider a package of proposals which seeks to introduce producer responsibility for waste batteries. The proposals were adopted by the Commission at the end of November, but have been watered down from the original proposals for a new Battery Directive after pressure from some Member States.
Despite the compromises made, outgoing environment commissioner Margot Wallstrom said the measures would “protect us and the environment from the risks that old batteries pose when they are incinerated or end up in landfills”.
For UK local authorities, the proposals on the table represent a victory over the lobbying of the battery producers according to Claire Hudson, policy and public affairs officer of the Local Government International Bureau.
Ms Hudson said that although some aspects of the proposals will cause disagreement among European ministers, the issue of producers taking responsibility for financing collection and recovery of batteries did not seem to be under debate.
Proposals
About 800,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of consumer batteries are placed on the European market each year. These batteries contain hazardous substances including mercury, lead and cadmium.
The new Battery Directive proposes a ban on the landfilling of automotive and industrial batteries.
For portable batteries, the proposed Directive would require national collection systems to be set up to collect 20% of batteries for recycling four years after the Directive comes into force and 40% seven years after the Directive start.
For collected batteries, targets would be set to recycle:
- 65% by weight of lead-acid batteries, including at least 98% of lead content
- 75% by weight of nickel-cadmium batteries, including 98% of the cadmium
- 55% by weight of other waste batteries
Ms Hudson said that the low recycling targets were “disappointing” and showed “no ambition”, but conceded the targets could prove challenging for the UK and new European Member States, where battery recycling is not yet common.
Cadmium
As well as collection and recycling targets, the proposed measures would introduce a ban on using harmful mercury and cadmium in batteries, except those used in emergency or medical equipment.
But, cordless power tools – representing about 70% of batteries containing cadmium – would also be exempt from the ban under a controversial compromise deal, with a possible review after four years.
Commenting on the cadmium ban and the exemption of power tools, Ms Hudson said: “On the one hand we are pleased that the proposal recognises the hazardous nature of cadmium, but on the other hand the power tools exemption is a massive exemption.”
Producers
Producers of batteries would have to register and provide financial guarantees that they can manage collection and recovery obligations before placing batteries on the market. Producers would be able to use a “visible fee” on new battery sales to cover costs for a maximum of four years after the Directive comes into force.
Although priority has been given to the new Battery Directive by the Dutch Presidency of the European Union, the Directive could still flounder if an agreement is not made by the Council before Luxembourg takes over the Presidency in January, as Luxembourg has not yet stated interest in the new Directive.
Possible difficulties in gaining a Council agreement could arise because some Member States – notably Sweden and Denmark, where battery collections are already advanced – are believed to view the proposed collection targets for portable batteries as too low.
And, the ban on cadmium could also cause friction at the Council meeting on December 20. The European Environmental Bureau said that a “handful of countries unable to free themselves from the grip of the battery industry lobby” within the Council of Ministers are threatening to reject the Directive.
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